You cannot protect biodiversity without considering agriculture

The ministerial round-table on agriculture at the UN's
Biodiversity Conference highlighted the immense importance placed on
agriculture when discussing protecting biodiversity.

After an opening from Mexico, each country was given an
opportunity to share examples of how protecting biodiversity in their
respective countries had gone, successes, lessons learned, the next steps and
also any issues they wanted aired.

In their opening the Mexican ministry said, “all countries,
producers and stakeholders need to take more responsibility.”

They talked about how agriculture consumes a massive
percentage of fresh water, and leads to soil degradation, through over-use of
fertilisers and deforestation. They highlighted that despite these issues agriculture
by necessity was set to expand.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation says
that by 2050 we will need to be producing 60 per cent more food. This is not
good news for biodiversity because despite significant gains in sustainability agriculture
still has an overall negative effect on biodiversity.

Every day though, countries around the world are protecting
and regaining biodiversity and it is currently being ‘mainstreamed’ into agriculture.

The Brazilian ministry showcased the incredible advances
they have made in the last 16 years. They built on the philosophy that the loss
of biodiversity is everyone’s concern,
but most especially small producers. They asked themselves how the world will
be able to feed nine billion people by 2030 without sacrificing biodiversity?
They answered it by protecting water reserves, limiting hunting, integrating
native wildlife onto farms and ranches, legally protecting 20 per cent of all
farmland and designating it for the protection of native species, investing in
innovative technology, research and upscaling.

Brazil has leapfrogged many countries this century to become
the first ranked country for protected areas. They have prioritised the
protection of biodiversity, implementing biodiversity protection into every
aspect of agriculture and are now ‘’encouraging everyone to do the same’’.

“We think that our efforts are commendable and should be
replicated. We also believe that international trade needs to be addressed to
reward countries who can prove that they are making great strides in protecting
the environment.”

The Danish delegation stressed, as many others have, that,
“Aichi will expire in 2020, with only four years left we don’t have much time
left and must act accordingly.”

Biodiversity is the basis of agriculture. Without biodiversity,
there is no agriculture, however agriculture has the ability to completely
destroy biodiversity if not managed well.

Denmark finished by highlighting that they believe a major
area for concern lies with pollinators being forced towards extinction. There
is a win-win here, but in order to achieve it we must “protect bees,
butterflies and birds”.

IFAD had a statement for this round-table, delivered by Margarita
Astralaga, Director of IFAD's Environment and Climate Division’s. Astralaga highlighted
how in agriculture we have lost nearly 75 per cent of crop diversity between
1900 and 2000. Today, only about 15 plants produce 90 percent of the world's
food intake.

“Today, IFAD recognizes that loss of biodiversity is a major
threat to small farmers and their communities, without biodiversity livelihoods
are not sustainable and food security and nutrition for the entire planet is
weakening.

"The full IFAD portfolio over the years has contributed
to the achievement of most of the Aichi goals, and since 2004 has integrated
biodiversity management into its investments in agriculture, livestock and
aquaculture. Supporting good water management and soil management, promoting agroforestry
and conservation agriculture, and promoting green value chains.”